Guardians Star is Historically Great in Massive Category

This Cleveland Guardians star has been historically great in an incredibly vital category.
Oct 18, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) hits an RBI double in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees during game four of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
Oct 18, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) hits an RBI double in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees during game four of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images
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Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez is unquestionably one of the best all-around players in baseball and is a rare five-tool player.

That we know.

But Ramirez is also particularly phenomenal in one area: hitting with two strikes.

This past season, the All-Star racked up 180 total bases with two strikes, which is the most by any player over the last two decades.

For reference, Ramirez amassed 333 total bases overall on the season, so some quick math demonstrates that over half of his bases came on two-strike counts.

That is an absolutely incredible feat.

As a matter of fact, with two strikes on him in 2024, Ramirez slashed .282/.321/.522 with 22 home runs and 60 RBI.

Those are some truly mind-boggling numbers.

Ramirez registered an overall slash line of .279/.335/.537 with 39 homers, 39 doubles and 118 RBI over 682 plate appearances this past year.

That was enough for the 32-year-old to take home his fifth Silver Slugger award, and he also notched his sixth All-Star selection as a result of his all-around performance.

Additionally, Ramirez placed fifth in AL MVP voting, marking his fifth top-five finish for the award.

The Dominican native broke into the big leagues with the Guardians back in 2013 and became a full-time player for Cleveland in 2016.

He has been the face of the franchise ever since and even earned a lucrative contract extension from the Guardians, something in which the front office rarely engages.

Ramirez helped lead Cleveland to an AL Central division title and an ALCS appearance in 2024.


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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.